When one sees a casting cost of 4WWW they often think of powerful cards like Serra Avatar or a very appealing build around me sorcery like Hour of Reckoning  I guess some older players would sometimes have fond memories of Elder Land Wurm while newer players crushed some Demonic face with Luminous Angel.  Maybe I'm wrong and no one really sits around thinking what you could get for 4WWW, because it really does not seem like a popular casting cost in the world of Magic.  I mean you take a W off the cost and you Akroma's Vengeance or Exalted Angel.  If you remove a colorless mana from the cost you get Purity and Admonition Angel.  I guess the point that I am trying to drive home is to me, 4WWW seems like it is a special casting cost.  It's a rare cost that sometimes knocks things out of the park, and other times it just taps a ball to the pitcher.  

It is my belief that 4WWW gets to add another card that will knock one out of the park, and much like the other cards before it, I see this particular 4WWW card becoming a fan of casual players all over!  



Behold the Vengeful Archon!

Besides from the aforementioned casting cost of 4WWW (What did you think I was talking about the CMC so much because the guy cost W?)  You have a flying 7/7 with a pretty sweet ability.  Damage prevention effects are pretty cool, but turning all the damage that would be dealt to you into burning wrath against your opponent?  Well, that's just great!  It's like having a repeatable white fireball! 

Here are some tips for playing this card. 

Vengeful Archon deals the damage to the player, not the Bloodbraid Elf that attacked you.  This means the damage will be coming from a white source.  This could be relevant in some situations. 

This damage can be redirected to kill a Planeswalker. 

Runed Halo makes this card very sad.  It also makes it to where you can not target your opponent with the ability.  I guess if you really need to, you can activate it and target yourself in that situation, but I'm clueless as to when you would want to do that. 

Unstable Footing makes this ability pretty unhappy as well.  If I understand correctly, damage could not be prevented, which would mean you could not redirect any of the damage that is being dealt.  This means your opponent would not take any damage. 

So if I were to build a deck featuring this flying lion, it would of course have white mana in it.  I would also like to have Cloudposts and Vesuva in the deck.  That way we can take advantage of the X ability of the creature.  Temple of the False God may not be too terrible to have either.  If things go right we're gonna have a ton of mana to spend on stuff. 

Setting up all that mana could be hard though, so I'll have some Wall of Omens and Survival Caches in the deck to make sure I can survive to start casting my giant men.  These men would include the Archon, Eternal Dragon (which will help me hit land drops in the early game and recur later on to thin out the deck.) Spirit of the Hearth gives you protection from the spells and abilities that your opponent have to use against you.  Iona rounds out the creatures in the deck that you ramp up to, and makes the game a lot less winnable for your opponent. 

Spells in the deck have been the hardest to come up with off the top of my head.  Survival Cache seems like it could good and draw you cards if the conditions are met, but cycling Renewed Faith may be a better option.  Scepter of Dominance spends a lot of the mana we would not be using in the early game and negates a threat.  Oblivion Ring gives you an answer to some pesky permanents, and Swords to Plowshares deals with guys when they need to be dealt with. 

This is not the greatest deck in the world, but to me it looks like a whole lot of fun to play! 

In fact I'll throw up this challenge.  When Magic 2011 releases on MTGO, I'll be on the client hanging out in the Casual decks room.  We'll battle and if you beat me, I'll give you a pack of Magic 2011 out of my own pocket.  I'll send a tweet out about as the day closes in!  I also reserve the right to change the deck up a little bit, but rest assured, I'll be casting Vengeful Archon as soon as the set is out on MTGO! 

 

Big Mana White

 

Creatures 4 Eternal Dragon 4 Wall of Omens 4 Spirit of the Hearth 2 Iona, Shield of Emeria 14 cards Other Spells 4 Vengeful Archon 4 Oblivion Ring 4 Decree of Justice 4 Survival Cache 4 Martial Coup 3 Scepter of Dominance 3 Swords to Plowshares 22 cards

Lands 4 Cloudpost 4 Vesuva 12 Plains 4 Temple of the False God 24 cards

I hope you all enjoyed the article and my rather feeble attempt at building a deck that may or may not cost me a ton of packs! 

In regards to the Community Cup. 

First and foremost, when I was invited to the Community Cup, I was floored.  I had always wanted to play in the Invitational, but lacked the skill set needed to do so, and was very sad when that event ended.  I always for some reason wanted to put my face on a magic card.  Regardless the Community Cup feels like the Invitational reborn, and I was very honored to be able to take part.  I of course accepted the invite and looked forward to playing in the event.  

Sadly, my mind and body would not agree with me.  As the event date drew closer, I began to experience chest pains, was sick, and had a shortness of breath.  It would ebb with time, and as I drove up to the Airport on Monday morning I felt great.  When I got the the security checkpoint that was a different issue.  I had the same symptoms, but it felt like my chest was being trampled on.  I turned around, went to the doctor's and it was decided that I was having severe panic attacks over a fear of flying.  

Yes, I know flying is a very safe way to travel.  Mentally though, I could just not make myself believe it.  I sadly missed out on a great chance to hang out with friends and meet new people.  I also believe that I made the site look bad by bailing at the last minute.  That was never my intention and I want to take this time out to apologize to everyone who put me in the position to even be invited.  Without you, the readers, I would have never been selected, and I want to again thank you for helping me out. 

I've never been more humbled than when I got the invite, and it was as much a testament to my work here as content manager as it is the popularity of the site.  Again, I want to thank WOTC for the invite, and you all for helping me!